A Circle K being built could be the last new gas station that comes to American Canyon's Highway 29 stretch and Napa County's southern gateway.
The American Canyon City Council for a year has considered banning new gas stations in the city. On Tuesday, it indicated it will approve the needed code revisions, with a second, final vote scheduled for Feb. 1.
City Council members barely commented on the action. No one from the public spoke.
That might sound strange for so momentous a step. But the City Council isn't suddenly jumping into the issue, having imposed a moratorium on new gas station approvals in March 2021 while it studied how to make the ban permanent.
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“This has been something in the making for a while,” City Councilmember David Oro said.
Besides that under-construction Circle K, American Canyon has three gas stations along Highway 29. They are a Union 76, a Chevron and the Safeway gas station.
The city wants to keep things that way for the foreseeable future. Concerns range from fossil fuels contributing to climate change to the aesthetics of having American Canyon’s major street becoming a line of gas stations.
All of this looks to stymie two possible, additional gas stations. Rotten Robbie has already withdrawn an application to build a gas station/car wash/convenience store along Highway 29. An existing 7-Eleven on American Canyon Road applied in October 2020 to add pumps.
The planned code change categorizes existing fossil fuel status as “legal, non-conforming” uses. These stations could continue operating, though they couldn’t add fossil-fuel dispensing capacity.
“They’re kind of locked into what they have today,” city Community Development Director Brent Cooper said.
But existing gas stations could add electric vehicle charging stations and hydrogen dispensers.
If an existing station stopped operating for 180 days, it couldn’t be re-established. The exceptions are if a valid rebuilding permit hasn’t received a final inspection or the closure stems from an emergency such as a wildfire, storm, earthquake, pandemic or war.
In addition, the city is adding a new category to its laws. While new gas stations would be out, new zero emission vehicle service stations would be allowed.
American Canyon started talking about gas stations in October 2020, upon the approval of the Circle K.
“We’re called the gateway to the Napa Valley,” resident Chris James told the city Planning Commission. “I don’t want us to become the gas station of Napa Valley.”
The City Council took up the issue in February 2021 and heard from high school students worried about climate change. American Canyon High School junior Emily Bit and Napa High School junior Alisa Karesh spoke on behalf of Schools for Climate Action.
Bit and Karesh raised questions about the present emphasis on gas-powered vehicles. Karesh mentioned the goal of having net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by or before 2030 — no more greenhouse gases are produced than are removed.
“By the time we’ll be college graduates and by the time we’ll be old enough to fill your positions, it will be too late,” Karesh told council members.
The City Council is taking two meetings to enact the code changes because this is what is typically required for ordinances. The council introduces an ordinance at a first meeting, at which any debate takes place. The second vote is usually a formality.
Calistoga banned new gas station construction in December. Napa Schools for Climate Action recently asked the city of Napa to follow.
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You can reach Barry Eberling at 256-2253 or beberling@napanews.com.